


A Weary Mind and a Heavy Heart

by orphan_account



Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-30
Updated: 2013-07-30
Packaged: 2017-12-21 22:26:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/905665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anne has always been one to worry and Richard is always there to bring her back to earth, but when a storm begins to rage and she is pregnant with her first child, all sorts of memories take over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Weary Mind and a Heavy Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is my first time writing Richard x Anne and I have no idea where this came from, but they kick started my inspiration and since I have no photoshop skills I write, so here we go.

She told him on his first night back from Court, watching him from the spot at the bed post as he removed his arms from the sleeves of the heavy doublet. At first he didn't move, his dark eyes searching the ground before finding her own. 

“Are you sure, Anne?” His tone was calm and even, she could see the internal battle in his head painted in his eyes: the rational part of his character telling him not to rush, to be certain before acting. But the small upturn of his lips told her his instinct was winning. 

Anne nodded slowly. “Yes, Richard, I am quite certain.” 

The doublet fell to the ground, forgotten, as Richard crossed the room in three strides to sweep his wife into his arms. 

“I think it's a boy.” She managed to laugh between the flurry of kisses. He drew back, only far enough so as to look at her face properly, his hands drifting gently across her stomach. 

“Already? How could you know so soon?” He asked, still smiling even as his brows came together questioningly. 

Anne's eyes moved to his shoulder, where her fingers were playing with the collar of his night-shirt. “Well, I have had a little time to figure it out actually...” 

Two fingers tilted her chin upwards to meet Richards gaze again. “What do you mean, how long have you known?” 

“I suspected it a few days before you left for Court, but I was not sure and did not want to distract you until I was, which was only days before your return.” She paused, her eyes returning to her feet. “I am sorry if I disappointed you with not saying so before.” 

What ever she had been expecting in response, the soft chuckle from Richard's lips was not top of her list. “Anne, oh my dear, Anne.” he sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I love you, but you do worry so.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips, feeling her smile again. “We are going to have a child, how could I be disappointed?” 

“Oh, Richard I have missed you.” Anne smiled, throwing her arms around him. 

He buried his face into the crook of her shoulder. “As I have you.”

**~oOo~**

Anne was four months into her pregnancy when the storm broke. Wind and rain pounded the windows of Warwick Castle and Richard woke with a start to find his bed absent his wife. 

The fire in their chamber crackled on despite the ongoing weather, illuminating the set of chairs before it and the small figure curled up amongst them. She didn't hear him approach. She didn't hear him call out her name. Her eyes remained focused on the fire, her body tensing when ever the thunder rumbled outside, flinching at every crack of lightning. 

Richard tentatively placed his hand on hers, which had formed a vice-like grip on the blankets surrounding her. “Anne?” 

She lurched at the unexpected contact, her attention drawn from the fire to her husband, tear tracks marring her soft face. “Richard?” she breathed, confused as if she had not expected it to be him. 

“Anne, whatever is the matter?” he asked, entwining his fingers with hers. 

Thunder rumbled through the walls and her grip on his hand tightened as Anne closed her eyes. “The storm.” she managed once it had past. “All I can think of is being on that ship, and being with Izzy, and how – how she lost her...” 

At this Richard lifted her from the chair and pulled her into his lap as she cried; rubbing circles into her shoulder with his thumb and whispering “Shhh, it is alright, Anne. I am here.” 

Minutes past and the couple sat on the stone floor beside the fire, wrapped up in each others arms. “What if it happens to me?” Anne said, her voice small and cracked and her wide eyes staring up at him. “Richard, what if I loose our boy like Izzy lost hers?” 

She could see him swallow hard before taking hold of her shoulders and staring her straight in the eye. “That is not going to happen.” he told her confidently. “Do you know why? Because I wont let it. I will not let God take our boy, and I will not let him take you. Do you hear me, Anne, I will not let him.”

“Yes, but Izzy-” 

“Had no physician and no nurse maids. You have all of that and me by your side, our boy will be fine, Anne. I promise.” Richard pulled her to him once more, repeating his lasts words over and over in his head like a mantra. 

The physician had informed him that Anne was too slight for child birth, that the dangers involved were considerably higher because of it. He had dismissed them immediately, convinced himself they underestimated Anne's spirit, her fight. But the warnings lingered like a disease in his mind, arising in the small hours of the night, making him worried, concerned for his wife. 

Richard knew that Anne could not know about this. She worried enough for the pair of them, he had to be the calm one. For her. For them both.

**~oOo~**

When the news came in the form of a panting squire, Richard was hunting with Francis Lovell and wasted no time in clambering back onto his horse and storming back to Warwick Castle. 

_'It's too soon, too soon. This is not right, it's too soon,'_ The thought was Richard's only one as he raced up the main stairs. He did not recall how he made it to the door of Anne's chamber only that he was now pacing before it like a man possessed. 

His ear trained on the door, the only sounds were of the nurse maids bustling around for towels and other things. Occasionally there came a small cry which could only be Anne, and Richard had to be stopped by his own men from entering. As he paced, he found himself thinking back to his time at Court when the Queen had her many children. It had been a loud affair, the whole Court would soon know of the situation purely by her cries. 

Richard didn't know whether to be concerned or comforted by the lack of noise from his wife and was torn between abiding to the custom and remaining outside, trusting the nurse maids to take care of everything. Or to burst in there and make sure for himself. His mind was made for him after a particularly loud and piercing yell from the room, easily the worst he had heard yet, and greatly desired never to hear again. 

If the nurse maids or his men made any protest Richard did not take note of it. On the bed, with her chin down, hair stuck to her forehead and with her eyes clamped shut, was Anne. His dearest, Anne. Richard's hand had found its way to hers and she was fighting, just like he knew she would be, and he cursed himself for ever staying away. Only when it was over did Richard realise his whole arm was numb, but as he lay against the headboard with his wife in his arms and their son in hers, he could not bring himself to care. 

The boy was small, the physician informed them, even for an early child. Richard was about to ask what this would mean for their child, when Anne had raised an exhausted hand to his cheek. “Not now.” she murmured “He is alive, so it is perfect. Let's not worry right now, not right now.” 

What else could Richard do but agree. “Alright, just rest a while.” 

Anne gave a small smile and leaned into him further. “I love you.” 

He pressed his lips to her hair. “And I love you both.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I like to write stuff every now and again but sometimes (always) lack ideas, so feel free to shoot me a prompt or two over at my tumblr: http://seagreensugarcubes.tumblr.com 
> 
> xx


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